Holder for cups and similar articles



Sept. 1, 1936. F. A. SCHAFER HOLDER FOR CUPS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES FiledAug. 17, 1934 III/III.

Patented Sept. 1, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention has for its object the provision of a simple and.inexpensive device whereby a tumbler or drinking cup may be supportedand held against lateral movement. The invention also seeks to provide atumbler holder which may be mounted upon a kitchen faucet and be firmlysupported thereby but readily detached therefrom. These stated objects,and other objects which will incidentally appear in the course of thefollowing description, are attained in such a device as is illustratedin the accompanying drawing, and the invention resides in certain novelfeatures which will be hereinafter first fully described and then moreparticularly defined in the appended claim.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevation showing my invention as embodied in a practicaldevice.

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the holder removed from itssupport.

Figure 3 is a plan view.

Figure 4 is an elevation of one end of the device before the coils havebeen spread into cup-like form.

Figure 5 is an elevation showing a modification.

Figure 6 is a detail perspective of the handle portion of the deviceshown in Figure 5.

In Figure 1, three faucets I have been illustrated, but it will beunderstood, of course, that the number or style of the faucets isimmaterial. In carrying out the present invention, a single strand ofstout wire, preferably of non-corrodible metal, is formed into a fiatvolute coil, as shown at 2, the wire then extending from the outer edgeof the coil at a right angle thereto, as indicated at 3, and doubledupon itself so that the parallel branches of the end portions may betwisted spirally about each other, as shown at 4, to form a rigidhandle. When the outwardly extending end portion of the wire is doubledit is left untwisted with its sides slightly spaced apart, as shown at 5in Figure 3, and bent into a curved hook, as shown most clearly at 6 inFigure 2, this hooked bight of the handle member providing a convenientmeans for suspending the device upon a supporting bracket. The devicethus formed will present the appearance seen in Figure 4, and, in orderthat it may prevent sliding or lateral movement of an article placedthereon, the volute coil is extended to the form shown in Figures 1 and2. To efiect this result a fiat bladed instrument may be engaged throughan outer coil of the body of the device and pressure applied to thisflat instrument while the outermost coil is held by the fingers andthumb.

The pressure thus applied will cause the number of coils below thebladed instrument to recede from the outer coils so that the outer coilswill be spread, as shown at I, to any desired degree, the spread coilsconstituting the side portions of a cup-like holder of which theunspread coils will constitute the bottom. The natural resiliency of thewire strand makes it necessary to extend or spread the coils to aslightly greater degree than is desired in the finished article, as willbe understood. When the device is supported as shown in Figure 1, thehooked end of the handle is engaged over and around the body of onefaucet with the handle extending across and over adjacent faucets, sothat the device will be firmly supported and a tumbler or cup may beeasily placed within the expanded coils to rest upon the closely woundcoils which constitute the bottom of the holder. The wire being doubledupon itself and the branches of the bight being twisted about each othertightly, as indicated in the drawing, a very firm handle will beproduced so that the weight of the article held by the holder will notbend the handle nor cause its release from the bracket or other supportwith which it is engaged.

In Figures 5 and 6, I have shown a slight modification of the device inwhich the volute body 2 is produced as before described, and theuppermost or outermost coil 8 is slightly raised from the main body ofcoils. The end of the wire is extended upwardly from the outer coil 8,as indicated at 9, and then doubled upon itself to form a hook ID, theouter side I I of the hook merging into a lateral link I2 at the end ofwhich a second hook I3 is formed. The two hooks I0 and I3 may be engagedover the edge of a water bucket I4, as shown in Figure 5, and willthereby support the device so that a cup or drinking glass may be heldat the bucket and be thereby always within access when its use isdesired.

My holder is exceedingly simple in construction and may be produced at avery slight cost without the use of expensive tools and withoutrequiring highly skilled labor. The device may be used in various waysbesides being employed primarily as a holder for drinking vessels.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A device of the character described comprising a strand of wire havingone end portion formed into a volute coil constituting an articlesupporting body having the remainder of the wire strand extendingtherefrom and substantially midway its length bent back upon itself toprovlde handle forming sections having their outer end portions spacedtransversely from each other and being then twisted together to form anelongated reinforced shank of a length to extend in bridging relation toa pair of spigots, the spaced portions of the strand being bentdownwardly and inwardly to form a hook adapted to engage about a spigotand detachably mount the device with the hook engaged about one spigotand the twisted shank extending across and resting upon the other spigotand the article supporting body spaced transversely from thelast-mentioned 5 spigot.

FREDERICK A. SCHAFER.

